First for Culture in Wales

When I heard Peski were bringing out a compilation of some of the stand out Welsh alternative music played on their radio slot, my mind turned immediately to Jacob’s Market. No, they aren’t throwing free copies of it from atop the antique centre sadly, or gladly, if you don’t like getting hit in the face by excellent Welsh music (you WILL find ‘CAM1′ here) – but my firmly formed ideas of the label/promoters are from seeing Peski shows in there.

Anyone lucky enough to venture there during Swn Festival, or indeed for any of Peski Records’ wonderful ‘Peski N A C H T’ events last year would’ve discovered a fine array of electronic, experimental and avant-garde artists on show, including the bristling ‘anti-pop’ of Y Pencadlys and R.Seiliog’s part spectral, part murmured kraut-influenced rock. Once you’ve made the three floor climb to the ghostly lit gallery level of Jacob’s for one Peski show, returning for another feels a lot more like you’re being pulled toward something altogether more creepily corporeal – certainly after catching the fixating, aberrant and engaging bleeps of Y Pencadlys; and many of the artists on Peski’s newly released compilation LP, ‘CAM 1‘ hold a similar musically deviant fascination – even down to the pleasant electro-folk of David Mysterious, who, we are led to believe is somewhat of a recluse when it comes to performance.

Not that we want to paint ‘CAM 1′ as a collection of oddities – it is far more than that, but the title of the radio show it comes from gives you an idea of the intrigue that’ll be on offer in it – ‘Cam O’r Tywyllwch’, or ‘A Step From the Darkness’. Peski, along with Gwenno Saunders have been broadcasting the best of the wonderful world of alternative Welsh music along with sounds from afar on this weekly show on Radio Cardiff and Resonance FM since February 2013 and it’s a fine taster of a wider scene, from both established and newer artists. As they say:

“The album’s intention is to provide a platform for music that is often ignored in Wales, and to encourage and inspire more musicians and bands to create something similar.”

Check a taster above, and we will have a full review of CAM 1 next week.